It’s my birthday today, so I’ll be brief. I’ve got celebrating to do! I made this lemon balm syrup the other day with a summer tipple in mind (recipe soon), but I think it would nice in iced tea or brushed onto cake layers, too. Lemon balm is a member of the mint family and is known as a calming herb. It has a heady lemon scent much stronger than lemon verbena. The syrup is softly sweet, softly lemony, and ready in minutes.
Lemon Balm Syrup
Yield: one pint
Ingredients:
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice
½ c. loosely packed lemon balm leaves, bruised and chopped
Method:
- Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan over high heat.
- Bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove the syrup from the heat and, using a funnel, ladle it into a clean quart jar.
- Allow it to come to room temperature and then store it in the refrigerator.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
A few days late, but happy happy birthday Laura!
Hopefully you had a stellar day!
This reminds me of the lemon basil simple syrup I made a friend for her graduation party!
Thank you, Joyce. You are sweet. And I think we really are of one mind sometimes! Lemon basil is a great idea.
This sounds delicious. But what do you do with it?
Well, I use it in drinks, to sweeten tea, and to brush on cake layers such as in a trifle. You can use it anywhere you would use a liquid sweetener.
Interesting that Lemon Balm is a member of the mint family.
How’d you celebrate???
Sophia and Will cooked a beautiful dinner for all of us.
Do you strain out the lemon balm, or leave it in? And how long would you leave it in, if so?
I saw another blogger macerate mint with the sugar and a pinch of salt, leave it overnight, then add the water and make the simple syrup. I like your method better- simpler.
Christie, I left it in for a day and then spooned it off–it floats to the top. You could leave it in a bit longer if you wish. Thank you!